‘Rings’ posts another win

Tolkien tale tops $205 mil in 19 days, 'Imposter' can't sneak in

For the third straight frame, New Line’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings” topped weekend box office rankings, with an estimated $23 million. Cume for “Rings,” which also copped an American Film Institute best pic win Saturday, is $205.5 million through just 19 days.

Universal/Imagine’s “A Beautiful Mind” crept to No. 2 with $17 million in its third sesh, as Russell Crowe starrer expanded to now-wide 1,853 theaters. And Disney’s “The Royal Tenenbaums” grossed an estimated $8.8 million from 751 venues, good for fifth place after two weekends in limited release.

Sony’s “Ali” had a 48% to $7.6 million in its soph-sesh. The drop raised questions about whether it can go the distance. Will Smith starrer, produced for well over $100 million, punched up cume to $50.1 million but will need lots of kudos heat to sustain a profitable run.

Frame was strengthened by the staying power of holiday holdovers. Those included Warner Bros.’ “Ocean’s Eleven,” which grossed $11.8 million in third place, and Paramount toon “Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius,” one rung back with $9.2 million.

More upbeat was the estimated $7.4 million contribution in seventh place from Par’s “Vanilla Sky,” the quirky Tom Cruise starrer critics couldn’t kill. “Sky” has grossed $81.4 million through four weekends.

Sesh was marked by an industrywide 6% uptick from the first weekend of 2001 to $127.8 million in total grosses, according to data from B.O. tracker ACNielsen EDI. Perf is traceable to strong expansions by previous limited openers.

‘Impostor’ not imposing

Frame boasted only one wide opener — Miramax/Dimension’s sci-fier “Impostor,” which finished out of the top 10 with an estimated $3.2 million from 1,870 playdates. Ho-hum reviews and a crowded marketplace seemed to conspire against the Gary Sinise-starrer, which was delayed from a skedded Christmas debut.

Teen drama “Snow Dogs,” which Disney said drew 85% capacity auds to a series of sneaks this weekend, debuts the following frame, one of several wide openers set for the long Martin Luther King holiday sesh.

Warners’ “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” marked a big benchmark this weekend, as family blockbuster took in $6.1 million in ninth place to fly cume to $300.6 million. Perf reps a first-ever $300 million pic for distrib.

“It’s been a hell of a year,” said Dan Fellman, distrib boss at Warners, which topped domestic market share in ’01.